Cayde-6 The Matchmaker
by Villain84
Summary: Cayde notices that Ruby Rose, one of his best hunters, has her eyes on a certain warlock, and he makes it his mission to bring them together. White Rose fluff.
1. Chapter 1

A ferocious battle was raging on in the European Drop Zone. Fallen were everywhere. After the Red War, there were no shortage of messes to clean up. The minions of the Darkness had spread.

Cayde-6 had his back to Ruby Rose, one of his best hunters. While she sniped targets farther away with her Crescent Rose, Cayde shot targets closing on them with his Ace of Spades.

They were starting to get overwhelmed. Ruby had switched her weapon to scythe mode, slashing the encroaching fallen warriors to pieces.

Suddenly, a glowing rift appeared between them. Except it wasn't the same as any warlock's rift. It was more intrinsically designed, more elegant. There was only one warlock who could make rifts like this.

"Stand in the glyph!" A woman's voice shouted.

Cayde and Ruby did as they were told and jumped into the safety of the glyph, feeling the empowering light surge through them. They shields regenerated almost immediately.

The glyph's creator, Weiss Schnee, appeared within the circle alongside her fellow guardians. She stabbed one Fallen with her sword, Myrtenaster, before blasting two more with a single wave of arc light.

"Good to see you, Weiss!" Ruby shouted. Cayde noted the excitement in Ruby's voice.

"Nice to see you too, Ruby," The warlock replied.

Empowered by arc light, Weiss's ghost appeared and fired orbs of arc energy at the Fallen.

Within seconds, the swarm had been abolished. The bodies of whatever Fallen hadn't been disintegrated by light lay scattered, lifeless.

"Woohoo!" Ruby cheered. She turned to Weiss with a raised hand. "Way to go, team! High five!"

Cayde heard a soft giggle escape Weiss before she slapped Ruby's hand.

"Battle's not over yet," Weiss said, still holding her weapon. "We still have work to do."

Ruby's face was concealed by her mask, but Cayde knew behind it was a big beaming smile. He also couldn't help but notice Ruby still gazing in Weiss's direction as she walked away.

"Hey, where's my high five?" Cayde whined, raising his hand, snapping Ruby out of her daze.

"Oh, sorry," Ruby giggled. "Of course you get one too!" She slapped his hand.

* * *

A few hours later, the mission was successfully completed. Amanda Holiday had offered Cayde, Ruby, and Weiss a lift back to the Tower. Weiss and Ruby sat next to each other in the hull, Cayde studying them from his seat across the hull. They had both removed their headgear, and were happily chatting with each other, with Amanda occasionally chiming in over the com. Cayde wasn't really listening to what they were saying. He was studying their faces. Both had a beaming smile, eyes locked on each other, the other woman their sole focus in that moment. Clearly, they were very happy in each other's company.

This wasn't the first time Cayde had noticed Ruby acting this way around this warlock. They would pass each other in the Tower, wave at each other, flash each other these same smiles. Sometimes they would bump into each other when getting coffee and sit down together. Sometimes they would run into each other out on the field. During the calm times they would sit and chat. In firefights, sometimes they would fight together, almost in perfect synchronization. Sometimes one would save the other, take a blow for the other. Occasionally Weiss would scold Ruby for being brash or impulsive. It were as though they had been on the same fire team for years.

They only thing they hadn't done was go out on an official date.

Finally, they arrived at the tower hanger and hopped off Amanda's ship.

"Alright, I'll see you both around," Weiss said, about to head off to... wherever she was heading.

"Hey, Weiss," Ruby called after her.

Weiss turned back to her. "Yeah?"

But then Ruby froze, hesitated. It was like one of those moments where you forget what you were going to say right before you say it, but Cayde knew exactly what Ruby wanted to say. For whatever reason though, she didn't want to say it.

"I..." Weiss gave the girl a concerned look. "I enjoyed our talk on the ship," Ruby finally blurted out.

"Yeah, me too," Weiss shrugged. "I'll see you around."

"Yeah, see ya."

And then Weiss left, leaving Cayde alone with a crestfallen Ruby. Cayde wanted to smack Ruby upside her head for being so afraid. This girl was one of the bravest hunters he had ever known, yet she was too afraid to ask someone out? What was wrong with her?

"So, ramen time, Cayde?" Ruby asked excitedly. Often after a successful mission together, Ruby and Cayde would go out to one of his favorite ramen shops to celebrate.

"Oh, uh... can't today Ruby," Cayde stammered. "I, uh... I need to meet with Zavala. I got some important vanguard stuff to take care of, you know how it is."

His ghost appeared. "What do you mean, Cayde?" She asked. "Zavala didn't-"

He lightly smacked her behind her eye before she could finish.

"Ow... oh, I mean..." Good. She got the message. "Yeah, important vanguard business. Meetings, reports, all that."

"Oh, alright," Ruby shrugged. "See you later, boss!" She held out a fist to him. He bumped it with his own, and she left.

* * *

"You see it too, right?" Cayde asked his ghost. "Like I'm not the only one."

"Oh, totally!" the ghost answered. "They're SO into each other. It's so obvious!"

Cayde and his ghost were at one of the Tower's resident bars, discussing the situation.

"It's so obvious they like each other!" Cayde said. "What is Ruby afraid of? Why won't she ask Weiss out?"

"Well, you know how people are about these sort of things," his ghost answered.

"Well, I won't stand by and do nothing!" Cayde announced, though not so loud the whole bar could hear him. "From this point forward, it is our personal mission to bring Ruby and Weiss together!"

"I'm with you!" The ghost nodded. And then she chuckled. "You know, if I were Ikora, and I'm so glad I'm not, I would probably say something like, 'our followers' personal lives is not our concern.'" She imitated Ikora's voice.

"I'm also glad you're not Ikora," Cayde replied. "But if you were and you said that, then I'd say 'Ruby is one of my top hunters and my close personal friend. Her happiness IS my concern.' Oh, and don't even get me started on what Zavala would say."

They both laughed.

"So, I have a plan to get them together," Cayde whispered, "But we'll need a little help."

* * *

Cayde found Yang Xao Long, a very powerful titan, out leaning against the railing, chatting with another one of his hunters, Blake Belladonna. They looked happy together. Cayde made a mental note to give Blake her own extra push on a later day.

"Hi ladies," Cayde said, sliding up to them.

"Cayde-dash-six!" Yang greeted him. "What's shaken?"

"Can we talk for a sec, Yang?" Cayde asked. "Just you and me? As long as I'm not interrupting."

"Sure, no prob." She started walking away with Cayde, but turned back to Blake first. "Catch you later, Blake."

"We still doing some crucible tomorrow?" Blake asked.

"Wouldn't dare miss it!" Yang called back.

They stopped once they were out of earshot from Blake.

"So what's up?" Yang asked.

"Here's the deal; I need your help," Cayde answered. "It's about your sister - and before you give me that death glare, she's totally fine, nothing wrong with her, she's not hurt or anything." He took a breath and spoke more calmly. "Anyway, what if I told you Ruby has a little crush on someone, and I my keen hunter instincts tell me that this person may feel the same way?"

A grin spread to Yang's face and she leaned in more closely, and whispered, "I'm listening."

* * *

The next day, Cayde rushed to Ruby's bunk to find her playing a game on her scroll.

"Hey Cayde!" Ruby cheered. "Wanna play?"

"Ruby, as much as I'd love to stomp you again, we don't have time right now," Cayde answered. "I just got a distress call from some warlocks trapped in a cave on Mars. We gotta get down there to them right away.

"Say no more!" Ruby put her scroll away and zipped over to her footlocker, already getting her supplies together.

"Super! Meet me in the hanger in five!" Cayde commanded as he marched away.

* * *

About an hour later, Cayde and Ruby had touched down on the frozen mountains on Mars, and were hiking towards the cave that the distress signal had come from. They had encountered a few hive thralls, but nothing they could not handle. Finally they reached the cave, both of their ghosts illuminated the passage as they crept through, both of their weapons at the ready.

"They should be somewhere around here," Cayde said.

At last they saw another light dancing on the walls.

"Hello?" Ruby called out excitedly. "Guardians? Sound off!"

"Here!" Called a voice around the corner.

The hunters rounded the corner and bumped into none other than Weiss, who seemed to be aimlessly searching around the cave with her ghost.

"Weiss!" Ruby cried out. She dashed right up to the warlock and wrapped her in a tight hug. "Hi! Are you alright? You're not hurt?"

"Hi Ruby," Weiss choked out, Ruby's hug nearly crushing her. Finally Ruby released her, and she caught her breath. "Yeah I'm fine. What about you?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Ruby looked over behind Weiss's shoulder, searching for the other warlocks. "Where's the rest of your fireteam?"

"There is no fireteam," Weiss answered. "I came here alone. I was in too big of a rush. I didn't have time to get a fireteam together."

Ruby was confused. "But your distress call said there were several warlocks trapped down here."

" _My_ distress signal?" Weiss repeated. Now it was her turn to be confused. "I didn't send out a distress signal. I'm here responding to _Cayde's_ distress signal. It was coming from this location."

"Cayde? But he was- how- why?" Ruby turned around to face the exo. "Cayde, what is going-"

"Oops!" Cayde casually tossed a grenade at the wall farthest from them. "I am such a klutz."

A brilliant flash of light, a wave of heat, and a loud crash. Rocks could be heard crumbling and clattering together.

"It's coming down!" Ruby screamed. "We gotta get out of here!"

The three made a run back towards the entrance.

"What the Hell was that?" Weiss demanded. "What kind of guardian just drops a live grenade like that?"

"Hey, everyone makes mistakes sometimes!" Cayde shrugged.

"Not like that!" Weiss barked. "And definitely not a vanguard!"

They made it to the entrance. Cayde made it out the mouth, but before Ruby could follow him, he suddenly turned and shoved her back. Weiss caught Ruby, but before they could continue out, the roof of the cave other the mouth suddenly came down.

Weiss and Ruby jumped out of the way of more rocks. Weiss grabbed Ruby and pulled her close, then unsheathed myrtenaster and created a protective ice glyph under the two of them. "Hold on!" She ordered.

More rocks kept coming down, pounding on the protective ice barrier surrounding the two girls. Ruby and Weiss clung to each other. Weiss didn't budge, didn't release the glyph until everything was silent and still.

Weiss released the barrier. It was pitch black. Neither girl could see anything. Thankfully, both of their ghosts had survived, and both projected light for them all to see in the dark collapse.

"Ruby? Weiss? You guys okay? Sound off!" They could hear Cayde's voice through the rubble.

"Cayde! What the heck?" Ruby barked through the rubble. "You almost killed me!"

"It was coming down. You weren't going to make it!"

"I totally could have made it!"

"Nope! You would have died. I saved your life. You're welcome."

"Relax, Ruby," Weiss said, putting a comforting hand on Ruby's shoulder. "We got grenades, we'll just-"

"No! Don't!" Cayde cried out. "It's... uh... not structurally secured. One wrong move could bring down the whole cave on you two."

A brief pause.

"Don't worry. I'll got find help. In the meantime, you two just sit tight and... get comfortable."

"Cayde! What is the big idea?" Weiss demanded angrily.

No answer. He had left.

"CAYDE!"

Still nothing.

Weiss huffed. Ruby sighed. They were trapped.

"I'm not getting a signal," Ruby said, putting away her scroll. "I guess we're really stuck here until Cayde comes back with backup."

"Great," Weiss huffed. She plopped down on the ground. Ruby came over and sat beside her.

Deciding to get comfortable and breathe some more, she took off her mask. Weiss removed her helmet.

"I think he planned this whole thing out," Weiss said. "But why? Why would he want to kill us? It makes no sense. That's not like him. I thought we were all friends."

"I really have no idea," Ruby shrugged. "Cayde's a weird guy. He can't want to kill us. No. He's planning something else here."

"What reason could he- no, scratch that, anybody- have for trapping you and me together in a cave?"

Before Ruby could think of an answer, she glanced at her ghost to see that he was examining an object in the rubble. She stood up and crept over to him.

"What you got there?" Ruby asked him. She knelt down to examine what looked like a glimmer chest. Weiss came over to join her. "What do we have here?"

Ruby opened the chest, and was surprised by what she found. She and Weiss rummaged through the contents of the chest, carefully pulling it all out; a large thermos of soup, some cups and spoons, a blanket, a bottle of wine and some glasses, a deck of playing cards, and a battery-powered lantern.

All the things one would need for a picnic.

"What is all of this?" Weiss asked. "Why would someone just leave a chest of this stuff just lying around out here?"

"I don't..." Ruby paused. It suddenly dawned on her what was happening, why Cayde had gone through all this trouble. Her eyes widened, her face grew hot and she could physically feel her stress spiking. "Oh no."


	2. Chapter 2

While Weiss knelt down to turn on the lanten, Ruby sat down, back to the wall, her cheeks blushing bright red.

"No no no no..." she kept muttering under her breath.

Weiss got the lantern working, illuminating the cave in a soft orange glow, like that of a sunset. Their ghosts, deactivated their lights, now able to rest.

"What's wrong, Ruby?" Weiss asked, approaching the hunter. "What's with the 'no no no'?"

Ruby looked up at Weiss's concerned, blue eyes. Should she tell her? Finally, she sighed and decided to come clean.

"I know why Cayde trapped us in here," she said.

"Well? Come on. Why?" Weiss demanded. "Don't leave me in the dark here."

"It's because..." She hesitated, then sighed once more, preparing for the worst. This wasn't how she wanted Weiss to find out. "Because I like you, Weiss."

There it was. Out in the open.

Weiss's eyes popped. She was silent for a moment, then spoke. "Um... what do you mean? Like, like-like me?"

"Yeah," Ruby nodded. "I guess Cayde figured it out, and now he's trapped us down here... sort of like a date."

Now Weiss was blushing as much as Ruby was. Her eyes darted around the room for a second, trying to look anywhere but at Ruby. After a moment, she looked back, and spoke again.

"Who does he think he is?" She snapped. "Trying to butt his nose into _our_ personal lives?"

"Yeah! I know, right?" Ruby huffed.

Weiss scooted over next to Ruby, now both leaning against the wall.

"But he's not entirely wrong," Weiss added.

"What?"

"I kind of like you too."

Ruby wasn't even aware of the smile spreading across her face as those words left Weiss's mouth. "Really?"

"Yeah." Weiss scooted even closer to Ruby, gently put her arm around her. "I like being around you, a lot. And most of the time, when out on missions, I'm scared. Whenever I'm with you, out in the field or even just hanging out at the Tower or in the City, I feel... I dunno. Safe. I feel like you and I can take on anything. There's not a lot of people who make me feel that way, really just Winter, Klein, my ghost, and you."

"I... I didn't know you felt that way with me," Ruby replied. "Why didn't you ever say anything before?"

"I dunno," Weiss shrugged. "It never felt like a good time, I guess... I guess also... I wasn't really sure about starting a relationship with anyone."

"Why not? Aren't there people you've liked? Haven't you had other crushes?"

"Well, yeah, of course, but... well... we're guardians, our duty is to protect the Traveler and people of the city. All that comes before ourselves."

"That doesn't have to mean our own lives don't get to come at all. We're not the Traveler's mindless slaves who don't get to make our own choices and have our own lives."

Weiss hesitated another second. "I guess another thing is that committing to a relationship is a scary thing."

"You're over thinking it," Ruby said, taking Weiss's hand. "I like you, and you like me. Can't that be enough for now? Can't that be a good starting point? We don't have to plan out our future or get married or anything today, we don't have to know how long this will last. If someone makes you happy, if you care about someone enough to want to spend time with them, then you should, don't you think? Life's too short to let someone special pass you by."

"That's another thing," Weiss added. "I know you've been hurt before. You told me about your mom, and that exo warlock you dated a few years ago, Penny. You lost them." She tried to pull her hand back, but Ruby held it more tightly, refusing to let her go. "In our profession, we could die any day. I could die tomorrow, and you'd feel that all over again. I... I can't put you through that."

"Weiss, that's my choice. Yes, I loved my mom, and I loved Penny, a lot. And loosing them both hurt. But if I'm lucky enough to find someone special, I'm not going to just let them go because it might mean feeling that pain again.

"Well... I don't know if I can bear feeling that pain. _I_ could loose _you_ tomorrow, for all I know." _  
_

Ruby was silent for a moment, and finally released Weiss's hand. "That's true, you might," Ruby answered. "I can't promise you I won't die tomorrow. And I can't force you to take this risk, Weiss. All I can say is, if we can be happy together, the risk is worth it to me."

Ruby turned away. She waited for Weiss to say something. Weiss, it seemed, needed to decide on what to say. The girls sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Ruby had said everything she could and wanted to say.

She suddenly felt Weiss's hand find hers and squeeze it. The huntress turned to the warlock, whose bright blue eyes were accompanied by a smile.

"Okay," Weiss whispered with a nod. "Let's give it a chance. Wherever life takes us next, I want to face it with you at my side."

Ruby's face exploded with happiness. She jumped up, grabbed Weiss up with her and squeezed her in a back-breaking bear hug.

"Thank you Weiss! You made me so happy!" Ruby squealed. "I promise we're going to have so much fun together!"

"Hey hey hey easy!" Weiss choked out.

Ruby quickly released Weiss when she realized she was suffocating her.

"Sorry," she said timidly.

"It's fine," Weiss giggled once she caught her breath. "I'm excited too." She cupped Ruby's face with one hand, and gently kissed her on the other cheek.

Silence. The two guardians stood there in the dimly-lit cave staring at each other lovingly for a few seconds. It started to feel a little awkward.

"So... what now?" Ruby asked.

Weiss turned to the picnic cache Cayde had left them.

"Might as well have some of that soup and wine Cayde left us," she smiled, reaching for the wine bottle and two glasses. "How about a toast? To a new beginning for us?"

"Absolutely," Ruby nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

For the next hour, Ruby and Weiss sat comfortably together in that cave, enjoying the spicy ramen Cayde had left them. Of course it was a takeout from his favorite ramen shop at the tower. Not exactly the most romantic dinner, but the couple enjoyed it nonetheless. It went surprisingly well with the red wine. After dinner, the two pulled out the deck of cards and played a few games they both liked. After a while, it started to feel chilly in the cave, so they snuggled up close together under the blanket. Finally, their little pillow talk session was interrupted by-

"Ruby! Weiss! We're back! You two still alive under there? Sound off!"

The couple excitedly popped out from their blanket.

"It's about damn time!" Weiss shouted.

"Stand back!" Cayde ordered. "This is gonna be loud and hot!"

"Fire in the hole!"

Ruby and Weiss jumped to the farther end of the cave-in, narrowly avoiding a massive explosion of bright solar light.

When the dust and rubble had cleared, the couple saw Yang standing at the entrance, a large gaping hole to the outside, and a few puddles of molten rock scattered here and there.

"Yang!" Ruby cried. She rushed into her sister's arms, and Yang welcomed her.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" Yang said.

"Yeah, me too!" Cayde added. Ruby turned to him to find a third face beside him, Dr. Anastasia Bray from the Clovis Bray research facility.

"Hi guys," Ruby greeted everyone.

"Boom! I told ya we'd find them making out!" Cayde boasted to Ana, gesturing Weiss in the blanket. "Now pay up!" He held out a hand expectantly to her.

"They're cuddling, not making out," Ana retorted. "Big difference. You loose." She held out her own hand.

"Dammit," Cayde muttered as he reluctantly handed Ana a fistful of glowing motes. "But anyway, the principle remains the same. Just lock two people in a room together for a couple of hours, and let the magic happen! Works every time!"

"You mean you've done this before?" Ana asked, pocketing the motes.

Cayde silently stared back before finally answering, "...no comment."

"YOU!" Weiss stormed out of the cave, making a beeline straight for Cayde.

"Uh-oh..."

She grabbed him by the collar and pointed the tip of Myrtenaster right at his throat.

"Told ya she'd be pissed," Yang shrugged.

"What the Hell is wrong with you?" Weiss demanded. "You almost killed us just to get us to hook-up?"

"Hey now," Cayde said calmly, his hands raised defensively, "In my defense, I wouldn't have had to do this if you or Ruby just had the guts to ask one another out. You totally brought this on yourselves."

Weiss continued to glare at the exo.

"Did you think we wouldn't figure out what you were trying to do?" She demanded. "Do you think we're that stupid?"

"No," Cayde replied. "I knew you'd catch on eventually... but it still worked, didn't it?"

Finally, Weiss's expression softened. She sheathed her sword and released Cayde.

"Yes, it did," She admitted.

She turned to Ruby, grabbed her new girlfriend by her collar, and pulled her in for a passionate kiss.

Weiss released the love-struck Ruby, and the two turned back to the other three guardians. "Are you happy now, Cayde?" She grunted.

"Very," Cayde replied. "Are you?"

"Yes, I am."

"You're welcome." Cayde gave a small bow.

Weiss was still irked by this response, but before she could say anything else, she felt Ruby's hand slide into hers. Weiss turned to Ruby's smiling face, and knew everything was okay. No need to keep arguing with Cayde.

"Aw! My little sis has a new girlfriend!" Yang squealed, ruffling Ruby's hair. "Look at you, getting back in the game!" Ruby swatted her hand away playfully.

"Well, I'm very happy for the two of you," Ana commented. "Anyone who can find someone they like these days is lucky."

"We did it, Yang!" Cayde cheered, giving the titan a fist bump. "Operation White Rose was a success!"

"Guess I shouldn't have doubted you," Yang shrugged.

"You were in on this Yang?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah. I sent out that fake distress signal to Weiss, and then I hung out with Ana here at the Bray facility and waited for Cayde to come get me so I could bail you out."

"We're all going out to celebrate tonight!" Cayde announced. "Ramen and drinks at the tower on me!"

"But Weiss and I just had ramen!" Ruby reminded him.

"Oh... right..." he thought for a second, then snapped. "How about some pizza then?"

"I could go for some pizza," Yang nodded.

"Sounds good," Ana agreed.

"You know, this is a great idea, Cayde, going out to dinner with friends," Weiss said. Ruby could sense some sarcasm in her voice. "Maybe you should have suggested something like this BEFORE YOU BURIED US!"

"...Oh, yeah." He simply said, as though the thought just now occurred to him. "That's a good point. I'll have to remember that."

Weiss rubbed her temples.

"Well, let's get out of here," Yang suggested. "I'm freezing." She turned and headed down the path they had come, ready to call her ship.

"I'm all for that," Ana nodded, following Yang. "Pizza time!"

Weiss and Ruby started to follow.

"I can't wait to tell Uncle Qrow!" Ruby squeaked.

Before they could keep moving, Cayde put his arms around them, huddling all three of them together.

"So, now that you lovebirds are together," he whispered, "How would you like to help me out with Operation Bumblebee? Or maybe Operation Renora?"


End file.
